Historical Events on 18 Apr

Historical Events on 18 Apr

1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland.
1506 - The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica is laid.
1518 - Bona Sforza is crowned as queen consort of Poland.
1738 - Real Academia de la Historia ("Royal Academy of History") founded in Madrid.
1775 - American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begin; riders warn of impending arrests of Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
1783 - Fighting ceases in the American Revolution, eight years to the day since it began.
1797 - The Battle of Neuwied - French victory against the Austrians.
1848 - American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.
1880 - An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.
1881 - Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
1899 - The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.
1902 - Quetzaltenango, second largest city of Guatemala, destroyed by Earthquake.
1906 - The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire destroys much of San Francisco, California.
1906 - The Los Angeles Times story on the Azusa Street Revival launches Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement.
1909 - Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
1912 - The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.
1915 - French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.
1923 - Yankee Stadium, "The House that Ruth Built", opens.
1924 - Simon & Schuster publishes the first Crossword Puzzle book.
1942 - Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.
1942 - World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan. Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya bombed.
1943 - World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
1945 - Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.
1945 - Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Bolivia are established.
1946 - The League of Nations is dissolved.
1949 - The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force.
1949 - The aircraft carrier USS United States (CVA-58) is laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding. However, the United States is canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.
1954 - Gamal Abdal Nasser seizes power in Egypt.
1955 - Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandurg, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.
1958 - A United States federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound is to be released from an insane asylum.
1961 - CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule.
1974 - The Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurates Lahore Dry port.
1980 - The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country's first President.
1983 - A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.
1988 - The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
1992 - General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolts against President Mohammad Najibullah of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and allies with Ahmed Shah Massoud to capture Kabul.
1993 - President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolves the National Assembly and dismisses the Cabinet.
1996 - In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces accidentally shell the UN compound at Quana.
2007 - The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-4 decision.